A Common Heritage At Risk

10 Oct 2014 1:06 PM |
Anonymous

Last month more than 80 leading archeologists and scholars issued a public letter calling on the UN Security Council to prohibit trade in Syrian antiquities which are being dug up, stolen from key sites, and sold on the international black market to provide funds for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other extremist groups.

"Our shared world heritage in Syria is being looted and turned into weapons of war," the letter stated. "Ancient sites dating back to the very earliest moments of human civilisation are being crudely dug up and sold to foreign collectors."